India Women’s team captain Smriti Mandana will skip the Women’s Big Bash League [WBBL] for the second time in a row, as she has not put ahead of the inaugural playing XI, scheduled for September 3.
Almost all of India’s top players, including captain Harmanpreet Kaur, young Harleen Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma, are among the 122 overseas players who have registered for the draft. There are a total of 18 Indian players on the list, including Harmanpreet (Melbourne Renegades) and Jemimah (Melbourne Stars).
Mandana, who opted out of the WBBL this past year, reportedly wants to focus on the forthcoming domestic season while also managing her workload ahead of a hectic international year. According to cricket news reports, Mandhana may choose to represent Maharashtra in the upcoming domestic season, which will span from October 19 to January 26 and overlap with the WBBL.
The WBBL will begin on October 19 and end on December 2. The Asian Games, which begin on September 23, will be Mandhana’s debut competition for the country.
India Women squad for WBBL: Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (Melbourne Renegades), Harleen Deol [mid-order batter], Hurley Gala, Richa Ghosh [WK/Batter], Mannat Kashyap, Amanjot Kaur [Allrounder], Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey [Bowling/Allrounder], Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana [Allrounder], Jemimah Rodrigues (Melbourne Stars), Meghana Sabbineni, Deepti Sharma [Allrounder], Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur [Bowler], Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav [Bowler].
